Daily reports from the NGRIP-camp - week 28 year 2000
Monday, July 10th
|
| Daily life |
| A day with overcast and light snow. |
| Science |
| As we are approaching bedrock, we will rapport the drill-depth each
day from now on. Today the depth is 2687,23 m. |
| Logistics |
| 16 'new' people arrive in Kangerlussuaq. During the afternoon three
ski-equiped Hercules arrive. During evening a Mission Commander Meeting
is held where the missions for the week are planned.As it is 'warm' on
the ice the NGRIP-mission is planned as a night mission with departure
at midnight from Kangerlussuaq. The departure from the ice will then be
around 04, which is the coldest time. |
Tuesday, July 11th
|
| Daily life |
| The departure day for 16 in the NGRIP camp. It is sad to leave camp
as bedrock is approaching. But nice to come back to family and friends.
Many postcards and letters are written today. |
| Science |
| The depth today is 2718,86 m. |
| Logistics |
| The heavy ice boxes at dragged out of the science trenches and collected
on pallets to be loaded on the Skier tonight. In Kangerlussuaq the Skier
is loaded with food, fuel and drilling liquid. Just before departure there
is panic as it shows up that the load, fuel for Skier and balance of plane
is wrong. A pallet of fuel is off loaded. |
Wednesday, July 12th
|
| Daily life |
| The night without sleep. The Skier arrives at 02 and departs at 05.
Some of the newcomers start on the drilling team at 08. In the kitchen
the boxes are opened and mail, strawberries, blueberries, spareparts are
found. |
| Science |
| The drill depth is 2750,72 m |
| Logistics |
| An exciting take off. The Skier is loaded with the 16 outbound passengers,
2 pallets with empty fuel drums and 2 drums with ice. After three attempts
a pallet of ice is dumped (down in the trench again!). After further four
attempts the Skier fires the 6 ATO-rockets on the side of the plane but
even this does not give the Skier enough speed to get airborn. The Skier
continues several km after the end of the skiway before it finally gets
airborn. |
Thursday, July 13th
|
| Daily life |
| The new teams are doing well and the camp is back to normal. |
| Science |
| The depth is 2766,88 m. The tar from the cable has been causing trouble
today. The inner of the drill gets clogged by the black ice chip mixture
and it needs tendious cleaning. This slows down the drilling. |
| Logistics |
| The Air National Guard has some guests, that are invited to visit the
NGRIP camp. Some fuel is brough to camp and two pallets of ice are hauled
out of camp. Today the operation goes smoothly and the Skier takes off
even without the use of the ATO-rockets. It is not always easy to predicts.. |
Friday, July 14th
|
| Daily life |
| In the morning the camp has clear blue sky, but it becomes overcast
and at dinner time the wind speed is up to 20 m/s. The storm lasts only
two hours and the day ends again with blue sky. |
| Science |
| The drill depth is 2788,58 m. The tar is still causing problems. There
is a cake of black 'slush' at the bottom of the hole and the holes in the
filter keeps getting filled with the back stuff. Today the science trench
celebrates that 1000 m of ice has been measured in the CFA instrument. |
| Logistics |
| The radio communication between camp and Kangerlussuaq is bad. It is
a sunsplot year which might be the reason for the bad connection. |
Saturday, July 15th
|
| Daily life |
| A good Saturday evening with golf tournament and swiss cheese fondue. |
| Science |
| Depth today is 2803,22 m. The afternoon is used to filter the hole
and we hope that this will reduce the problems with the tar. |
| Logistics |
| The ramps to the drill trench and the freezer have filled in with snow
yesterday during the storm. The snowblowers are used to move the drifts. |
Sunday, July 16th
|
| Daily life |
| Good weather today. |
| Science |
| As the drilling has been slow for some days the science trench remains
closed today. The pits are visited instead. |
| Logistics |
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Read more about Week 29
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